This summer has been a super busy one in which we have had almost zero free time, but we’ve barely left our neighborhood. Three of our kids have been on swim team, which absorbed nearly all of our time and energy. We have had no time to do any of the normal summer things I
Eight awesome cousins, together for the first time since 2019. 2019!! We haven’t seen these guys in THREE years. For anyone that’s a long time, but for a kid it’s a loooooong time. It is, without exaggeration, 3/4 of Anna’s entire life. A looooooong time. When your cousins live in a different country, you do
At the end of June my two big kids went to their very first sleepaway camp. Emphasis on very first because, unless I’m forgetting something, I don’t think my kids have ever done any sort of significant camp…not even the day-kind. Mary went to kindergarten camp and, for David? Does swim team count? We are SO LAME.
A few weeks ago a few of Mary’s friends from her class came over for a pool party to celebrate her ninth birthday. Every time I think about whipping up a quick blog post about the party, the headline I write in my head is for her sixth birthday party. Six fits more neatly in my motherhood
The last day of school! CELEBRATION EMOJIS ALL AROUND!!!! Summer, we are ready for you even more than we’ve ever been before. Mary – third grade; Thomas – Kindergarten; David – fourth grade; Anna – bus stop side kick. On the last day of school, I arrived in the pickup line earlier than I have
As long as I’ve been a runner, I’ve always said that I don’t understand the concept of a runner’s high. I’ve never entered that sacred space where running is effortless and wonderful and I could just continue forever. And what are these endorphins people talk about? When I’m running, I’m working. Regardless of the pace
Last Friday was Anna’s last day of preschool. She went to school with her trademark “cute” smile, her hair swept into a ponytail, and her siblings sent her off with a chorus of complaints, “WHAT!?! Her school is over? And we have two more weeks? NOT FAIR!!!” These kids! There’s nothing like your 10-year-old comparing
This week the kids had a day off school in the middle of the week, and I decided to throw them all in the van and haul them to a playground like I used to when they were little. There’s a nearby private school that just revamped their equipment, and I wanted to let the
MOD Pizza, Starbucks, Richmond Lager, Surge Adventure Park. Know what they all have in common? They all have Anna’s letter — the letter A. I know this because Anna shouts enthusiastically whenever she sees her letter. “MOM! GUESS WHAT I SEE!” she shouts from the back seat, straining against her straps to make her point.
We celebrated Holy Week and Easter weekend by being very, very busy. That always happens, though, doesn’t it? If normal weeks are busy then holiday weeks will feel extra busy. I feel a temptation to chastise myself, “I’m doing this wrong. We need to slow down, simplify, take in the season.” But I also know